The Lüshi Chunqiu, also known in English as Master Lü's Spring and Autumn Annals, is an encyclopedic Chinese classic text compiled around 239 BC under the patronage of the Qin Dynasty Chancellor Lü Buwei. In the evaluation of Michael Carson and Michael Loewe, "The Lü shih ch'un ch'iu is unique among early works in that it is well organized and comprehensive, containing extensive passages on such subjects as music and agriculture, which are unknown elsewhere. It is also one of the longest of the early texts, extending to something over 100,000 words.
Background
The Shiji biography of Lü Buwei has the earliest information about the Lüshi Chunqiu. Lü was a successful merchant from Handan who befriended King Zhuangxiang of Qin. The king's son Zheng eventually became the first emperor Qin Shi Huang in 221 BC. When Zhuangxiang died in 247 BC, Lü Buwei was made regent for the 13-year-old Zheng. In order to establish Qin as the intellectual center of China, Lü "recruited scholars, treating them generously so that his retainers came to number three thousand". In 239 BC, he, in the words of the Shiji According to Shiji, Lü exhibited the completed encyclopedic text at the city gate of Xianyang, capital of Qin, and above it was a notice offering a thousand measures of gold to any traveling scholar who could add or subtract even a single word. The Hanshu Yiwenzhi lists the Lüshi Chunqiu as belonging to the Zajia, within the Philosophers' domain, or Hundred Schools of Thought. Although this text is frequently characterized as "syncretic," "eclectic", or "miscellaneous", it was a cohesive summary of contemporary philosophical thought, including Legalism, Confucianism, Mohism, and Daoism.
Contents
The title uses chunqiu meaning "annals; chronicle" in a classical reference to the ConfucianistchunqiuSpring and Autumn Annals, which chronicles the State of Lu history from 722-481 BC. The Lüshi Chunqiu text comprises 26 juan in 160 pian, and is divided into three major parts; the Ji : Books 1-12 correspond to the months of the year, and list appropriate seasonal activities to ensure that the state runs smoothly. This part, which was copied as the Liji chapter Yueling, takes many passages from other texts, often without attribution. The Lan : Books 13-20 each have 8 sections corresponding to the 64 Hexagrams in the Yijing. This is the longest and most eclectic part, giving quotations from many early texts, some no longer extant. The Lun : Books 21-26 mostly deal with rulership, excepting the final four sections about agriculture. This part resembles the Lan in composition.
Integrity of the text
Composition features, measure of completeness and/or possible corruption of the original Annals have been subjects of scholarly attention. It has been mentioned that the Almanacs have much higher measure of integrity and thematic organization than the other two parts of the text. The "Yu da" 諭大 chapter of the Examinations, for example, contains text almost identical to the "Wu da" 務大 chapter of the Discourses, though in the first case it is ascribed to "Jizi" 季子, and in the second to Confucius.
Reception
: "This book, through the course of two thousand years, has had no deletions nor corruptions. Moreover, it has the excellent commentary of Gao You. Truly it is the most perfect and easily read work among the ancient books." Liang's position, mildly criticized afterwards, was dictated by the lack of canonical status ascribed to the book.
Major positions
Admitting the difficulties of summarizing the Lüshi Chunqiu, John Knoblock and Jeffrey Riegel list 18 major points.
The Lüshi chunqiu is an invaluable compendium of early Chinese thought and civilization.
Popular culture
In Kingdom, the annals were created by Lü himself, and using his own coffers he hired several intellects, philosophers and other people to formulate them. After their release, he challenged other people to add or edit them in exchange for rewards.
